With February vehicle sales down 35.6% when compared to the same month last year, it’s evident that the vehicle market is feeling the effect of the credit crunch and the global economic turmoil.

Toyota achieved a market share of 22.9% in February with 7 453 sales. The company exported 6 802 vehicles for 45.5% share of export sales. In the combined domestic and export market Toyota accounted for 30% of sales.

“Although our banking and credit systems have proven to be more resilient than those in the developed economies of the world we are clearly not immune to the impact of the meltdown in those economies,” says Johan van Zyl, President and CEO of Toyota South Africa. “There is understandably a high level of caution being exercised by potential buyer.”

Van Zyl attributes the down turn in vehicle sales to the difficulty experienced by consumers in terms of obtaining vehicle finance, and he cautions that the lowering of interest rates is no “quick fix”. “We will only feel the impact of lowered interest rates around mid-year and we anticipate that interest rate reliefe will assist in levelling off the market as opposed to triggering a growth phase.”

Toyota’s overall top selling vehicle for the month was the Hilux with 1 900 units delivered for the month, followed by the Corolla with 1 686 units. In the medium commercial sector the popular Dyna was the top selling vehicle with 228 sales.